Episode 15 - Drummer Boy William Horsfall

The highest military award of our nation is the Congressional Medal of Honor.  It is awarded for conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty.  Those awarded the Medal of Honor are amazing as they put their life aside in efforts to save others.

 The Medal of Honor was originally created by President Abraham Lincoln.  During the Civil War many were awarded the medal.

 In this episode I look at a drummer boy that was awarded the medal for saving the life of his commanding officer. I find it fascinating that his role, although important to the actions of soldiers, is often seen as insignificant.  And yet, it was an important role as we’ll see.

 I invite you to join me as we look at the story behind the story of this historical figure.

References:

  The Western Theater in the Civil War (https://www.westerntheatercivilwar.com)

The Historical Marker Database (https://hmdb.org)

I invite you to share this podcast with others. If you have interesting stories about historical markers you've discovered, or perhaps are in your area, please email me at: americanhistoricalmarkers@gmail.com.

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Safe Travels!

Transcript

Hello Friends,

 I’m your host Dave Laton and welcome to Signs of Our Time, Discovering America’s heritage, one sign at a time.

 This podcast is designed to provide the story behind the story found on America’s roadside historical signs and markers.  

 In my earlier years in the Air Force, I had the honor of serving at an instructor in Air Force basic training.  We were responsible to transition young men and women from their civilian life into military.  Certainly, we tried to instill discipline and a strong sense of purpose in their service.  We did this in different ways.  For example, the barracks had to be set up and maintained in a certain way.  How they dressed and conducted themselves was another way.  And perhaps one of the most visible ways and common to all military services, we taught them how to march in formation.

As their basic training progressed, they took on more skills in their ability to march as part of a formation.  As they neared the time of their graduation, we began to train them to be part of an even larger formation to prepare them for their graduation parade.  

As they lined up in their formation, commands were given to march forward.  Now, picture in your mind several hundred, perhaps even 1,000 young troops marching in formation and keeping step with each other.  This, by itself, would be very difficult to maintain for any time.  To help with that, we had other airmen assigned to our drum and bugle corp.  We taught our airmen to keep in step with rhythm the drumbeat.  This rhythm was critical to everyone.  Commands were given with the drumbeat.  Cadence, or the rhythm of marching was maintained by the drumbeat.  If someone got out to step, he or she could easily get back in step without having to give commands.  The drumbeat ruled the flow of the formations.

This is not something new to our modern military.  In fact, it has been a part of militaries throughout history.  

In this episode, I want to focus on the role of drummers in the American Civil War.  I want to look at their role and one specific drummer boy who was awarded the Medal of Honor for going above and beyond the call of duty for his position.

It has been estimated that more than 40,000 men served as drummers in the Civil War.  Most of them could hardly be described as men.  Many were as young as 12.  Some even younger.  The official age for enlistment was 18 but this was often ignored.  

We certainly know the important role of bugles in signaling commands, but drums were used for this.  Like the drummers we have today in our military, the drummers in the Civil War had the important role of signaling orders and controlling the movement of troops.  There’s just something about marching to music that far surpasses simply marching to the cadence of a sergeant.   The impact is immediately noticeable.

In addition to communicating orders from their officers to the troops, drummer boys also provided other duties and assistance.  For example, many served as stretcher bearers to help carry the wounded off the battlefield.  Some even helped provide aid to the medical corps during surgery.  They were frequently used as messengers thus freeing up combat troops.  Some carried ammunition to the troops.  They assisted with camp duties such as caring for horses, assisting with feeding the troops, and almost any other duty as required.  And yes, some picked up a rifle and directly participated in the fighting.  

Most drummer boys did not carry weapons or directly participate in fighting.  But even so, they served close to the battle to perform their messenger duties so there was danger involved.  When the battle began, drummers generally moved to the rear.  Many were killed as they performed various roles.  

So you have an idea of the importance of drummer boys.  There were many that served with distinction and received special recognition for their bravery.  There were 8 civil war drummer boys who received the medal of honor during the Civil War.  

I want to look at one specific drummer boy from Kentucky that was awarded the medal of honor.  His name was William Horsfall.  

William Horsfall was born in 1847 so he would have been legally too young to join the northern army when the Civil War started.  Without any warning to his parents, he and his three brothers snuck abord the steamship to join the army.  

When the bell rang to signal the departure of the steamship, the other boys jumped ashore, but Willam remained.  The ship arrived at Cincinnati, and he enlisted as a drummer boy for Company G, First Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment stationed at Camp Cox in Charleston, Virginia.  At the time, he was fourteen years old.

The First Kentucky was sent to western Virginia and was involved in the second day of the Battle for Shiloh and then began moving to Corinth, Mississippi.  It was during action in Corinth that Horsfall performed his heroic action that earned him the Medal of Honor.  At this time, he was 15.

One of the officers of the First Kentucky was Captain James Taylor Williamson.  Just a point of interest about Captain Williamson, he had initially enlisted as a fifer and would later be promoted to lieutenant.  He shared a military musician background with Horsfall. 

Captain Williamson was seriously wounded during a charge against the enemy.  Then, as the troops reversed their charge, Captain Williamson was left between the lines.  Another officer asked Horsfall if it was possible to rescue the captain if possible.

Horsfall leaned his rifle against a tree and ran through enemy fire to reach Captain Williamson.  He then dragged him from danger to the stretcher bearers.  

His citation for the Medal of Honor read, “Saved the life of a wounded officer lying between the lines.”  It doesn’t sound like a huge effort, but it required bravery and putting the life of others above his own.  That is a true mark of character and bravery worthy of the highest recognition.

William Horsfall would continue to serve.  Later he was nearly captured by confederate soldiers but escaped back to his regiment.  

This plucky young man survived the war and went to live in his father’s home in Alexandria, Virginia. He died on October 22, 1922, in Newport and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate, Kentucky.

Well friends, there you have it.  A story behind the story from America’s historical signs and markers.  I hope you enjoyed this episode.  I invite you to subscribe and continue listening as we bring more episodes about the rich heritage of our great nation.

Please share this podcast with others.  If you have interesting stories about historical signs and markers, email me at: americanhistoricalmarkers@gmail.com.  Maybe your story behind the story will be featured.

I’m your host Dave Laton and thank you for listening, and safe travels!